Trailing Tonks
by New-Classic22
Summary: Nymphadora Tonks's school years starting from the very first ride on the Hogwarts Express. Will include some OC's, and some Canon characters. The rating may increase later, just to warn you now! Pretty Please come and check it out! R&R! Romance later. xx
1. Chapter 1

**Trailing Tonks**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP and I definitely do not own Nymphadora Tonks! I just love her as a character so much and I didn't like the way she died. Sorry. So I'm going to be doing this story about her school years. Won't this be fun! **

**AN: This is really just like a pilot, to see if people like it or not. If you do I will continue! See how this works! :D Enjoy the story!**

**Chapter****1**

The minute she saw the massive red train before her, she knew she was in the right place. Scurrying and pushing past the young girl was many a worried parent trying to get their child the best seat on The Hogwarts Express, and many children trying to keep up. The small 11 year old smiled, taking in her amazing surroundings. Suddenly she felt someone bump into her back, and tap on her shoulder.

"Come on you Codfish, the trains about to leave!" Her mother smiled down at her from over her shoulder, their backs now towards a seemingly solid brick wall. She quickly ushered her daughter off towards the train, helping to put her trunk into the baggage area and escorting her to the door. As the little girl was about to get in, her mother turned her around.

"Now, don't forget to change into your robes **before** you get to the school, eat some vegetables at dinner, try your hardest, and please, please, **please** do **everything** the prefects and teachers ask evenif you don't happen to completely agree with them. Understand?" She said, fiddling with her daughters shoulder length hair and dark red sweater. The girl swatted her mother's hands away and laughed.

"Of course I won't mum!" She giggled as she started turning back to the train. There were people pushing past them and it was almost 11 o'clock.

"You won't what?" Her mum asked, suddenly confused.

"I gotta go mum, sorry!" The girl said as she quickly hugged her mother and jumped into the train. Her mother was spluttering behind her, asking her to explain but all the girl did was throw a wink and a smirk over her shoulder. As the train started to pull out she opened the nearest window and leant almost the whole way out. Boys and girls leant out beside her, everyone waving to their parents and guardians on the platform.

"Have fun darling! I love you Nymphadora!" Her mother yelled over the massive noise coming from the other parents. The girls hair shifted to a slightly darker purple at the sound of her perfectly _horrid_ name, but quickly back to the mauve color it was prier.

"I love you to mum! And don't call me Nymphadora!" she called out as the train slowly pulled away. Andromeda smiled at her daughter, and let a tear slowly glide down her pale face. _There she goes! Oh, good luck my dear baby._ She thought as her daughters easily distinguishable head slowly became smaller and smaller, and the train rolled towards the country side.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeh, so that's it! This is a pilot, so if you like it I will continue. So tell me what you think with that little review button just bellow here! :D <strong>

**Oh, and is it just me or is it like writing a HP story like an initiation into FanFic? It just feels so right!**

**Please check out my other in progress stories, and also the stories by my beautiful sister EpicNerd,the epic ohsnapitzJess,the awesome DanaIsis and the intense Marine69! They are all magnificent writers and their stories will knock you socks off! (If you are wearing socks, that is)**

**To everyone waiting for my other stories, I am just a little low on inspiration right now, so yeh. :D**

**READ AND REVIEW! **

**LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Trailing Tonks**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP and I definitely do not own Nymphadora Tonks! I just love her as a character so much and I didn't like the way she died. Yeh, I said it! So I'm going to be doing this story about her school years, it will go through her loves, her adventures, her friendships.**

**AN: This is really just like a continuation of the pilot, to see if people like it or not. If you do I will continue! See how this works! :D Enjoy the story!**

**Chapter 2**

Tonks could no longer see her mother's smiling face, so she pulled her body back inside the train and slid the window closed behind her. She grabbed the brown duffle bag (containing her robes, wand, a few homemade biscuits & sandwiches her mother made special for her and a pack of muggle playing cards from her father) which she had left on the ground whilst waving goodbye and began to make her way down the corridor of the now speeding train. Her light purple hair was just reaching her shoulders and her eyes were a dark blue, sparkling with the exceptional excitement she was feeling. She passed many full compartments, until she finally found one that only had about 3 people in it.

As she pulled open the door, the first thing she noticed was the cold stares she was receiving from the occupants. They were all boys; one looked about her age with short dark hair, dark brown eyes and a stony, cold demeanor, and the others looked to be twins - each with light brown hair, green eyes and the same judgmental, up themselves expressions.

"Do you mind if I sit in here?" Tonks asked. The boys exchanged looks and not very subtly moved their bags onto the unoccupied seats.

"Sorry! There doesn't appear to be any room!" The dark haired boy said; his voice drenched with fake sympathy. Tonks's turned her face downcast and started to moved out of the cabin. She heard laughter behind her and her hair went from the mauve color to a dark blue out of sadness.

"Oh look! The ickle girlie's a shifter, what a freak!" one of the twins shouted behind her. Another roar of laughter erupted from the group of boys as Tonks swiftly made her way back down the corridor, tears rimming her now grey eyes. As she reached almost the end, she found a completely unoccupied compartment. She stormed in; all but throwing her bag onto the storage ledge above the seat, sat herself down and began to cry. _God, this is not as fun as I thought it would be. Mum said I would make friends as soon as I got on the train! Why were the first people I met so mean to me? What did I do wrong?_ Suddenly, the door of the compartment slid open, raising Tonks from her thoughts. She wiped her eyes in a hurry with the sleeve of her sweater.

"Hey, do you mind if I sit here? All the others are full." A girl, who looked about Tonks's age said. Tonks nodded and the girl smiled warmly at her. She had chocolate brown hair with gold highlights that just reached her shoulders and a side bang that looked as if it would constantly fall over her left eye, eyes that were an extremely dark blue - but not in a cold way, and lightly tanned skin. She was wearing a peacock feather earing in her left ear, a blue and black checked jacket that was slightly unbuttoned revealing a black t-shirt, dark denim jeans and black sneakers.

"I hope you don't mind me prying, but why were you crying? Aren't you excited to be going to Hogwarts?" She asked, her voice having a slightly husky edge to it. Tonks looked up at her, her eyes still glistening with tears, and saw genuine compassion in the young girls face.

"Oh, just a group of boys were really mean to me. They wouldn't let me sit with them and then they started laughing at me" Tonks said, her voice still thick with tears, but was starting to get back to normal. A look of anger quickly washed over they girl, but as fast as it had come it was gone, and a look of absolute sympathy took over.

"Well, boys are idiots if you ask me! And I don't know why they would laugh at you, you seem absolutely splendid company!" The brown haired girl said, a wide grin spreading across her face. Tonks let out a chuckle.

She smiled at the girl as she moved away from the doorway to sit opposite her, and Tonks's hair changed from the blue back to her favorite purple-pink color, and her eyes to the blue. The other girls eyes went wide, as a look of absolute amazement crossed her soft features.

"That was so cool! How did you do that?" She asked, her mouth still hanging open slightly. Tonks looked at her with a confused expression.

"What, this?" she changed her hair and eyes to red and quickly back to the original colors. The amazed girl nodded, and giggled slightly. "I don't know. I guess I've always been able to do it! Oh, check this out!" Tonks said, and changed her mouth and nose so that it looked like a duck's bill. The other girl laughed so hard she was lying down on the seat. Tonks laughed a bit as well, and waited for the other to control herself before changing back to her normal features.

"Well, I'm Tonks. My real name's Nymphadora, but I hate that name! I mean Nymphadora - probably my parents sick idea for a joke" Tonks said, reaching out her hand for the other girl to shake. She grasped her hand and shook it vigorously.

"Well Tonks, my name is Stephanie Victoria Elizabeth Rosalina Ariana McKinley, but please… Call me Stevie. If anyone calls me Stephanie I will cause them physical and emotional pain" the other girl said whilst they shook hands. Tonks nodded and laughed at Stevie, and Stevie laughed along, knowing full well how funny she sounded.

"What year are you in Stevie?" Tonks asked the girl curiously.

"First! It's my first time in the wizarding-world too! My mum and dad are both muggles, so it's funny that I'm a wizard. Apparently the first in my family! But you're a pureblood right? I mean otherwise how would you be able to do that whole face thing?" Stevie said excitedly, pulling a funny face and throwing her arms about when she talked about Tonks's morphing. Tonks laughed at the girl who was literally bouncing in her seat.

"Nah, I'm a halfblood. My dad's a muggle, and my mum's a witch. I don't know who I got my metamorphmagus powers from though." Tonks explained, and Stevie gave a look of slight confusion when it came to the word metamorphmagus, but quickly recovered.

"I'd love to be a meto-matama… Anyway, I think it's pretty wicked!" She smiled, and even though Stevie couldn't pronounce the name, she thought it was pretty cool. She couldn't help but smile at the mischievous glint in Tonks's eyes that she knew hers echoed, the relaxed way she was seated, and the happy smile that now looked as if it would be permanently imprinted on her face. She wondered if she would still like her once she met some other people.

"Anything from the trolley dears?" A nice old woman pushing a trolley piled high with magical sweets and candies of all kinds asked the two girls. Stevie jumped up and ran to the trolley as fast as her legs would carry her, but Tonks stayed seated. Stevie turned around and gave her a questioning look.

"Don't have any money" Tonks stated flatly. Stevie smiled at her.

"No worries! You choose somethin' and I'll pay for ya!" Tonks shook her head, muttering things about not wanting to impose on the other girl, but Stevie would have none of that. She grabbed Tonks by the elbow and hauled her over to the trolley.

"Nonsense! That's what friends do!" She smiled at the other girl, but saw the quite shocked expression on her face.

"Friends?" Tonks questioned, quite astounded that after such a bad start to the train ride she was actually being told she had a friend. Stevie saw the look of shock on her face, and took it the wrong way.

"Unless, you know… You don't want to be friends with me, then that's fine. I'll just go…" Stevie began to leave the compartment but Tonks grabbed her elbow just in time.

"Of course I want to be friends with you! I was just shocked 'cause I haven't really ever had a friend before" Tonks looked down, slightly embarrassed. Stevie turned around and gave Tonks a quick hug before turning back to the old woman. Tonks hugged back and smiled. She then turned back to the trolley as well and made her decision.

"I would like two chocolate frogs, a liquorish wand, two boxes of Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans and a peppermint pasty. Thanks!" Stevie said, and she was passed the mountain of candy that she had requested. Tonks raised her eyebrow slightly, before turning back to make her order.

"A liquorish wand and a pack of Fizzing Whizzbees. Thank you!" Tonks said as she took the candies from the woman. The woman added the numbers in her head.

"That'll be 12 sickles" she said, smiling at the young girls. Stevie rummaged around in her pockets for a second, before pulling out the correct amount of money and handing it to the woman. She pushed the trolley away and Stevie slid the door shut once again. She then retook her seat opposite Tonks. Tonks opened her Fizzing Whizzbees and popped one into her mouth, groaning in delight at the wondrous sugary flavor. Stevie carelessly chucked a chocolate frog and a box of Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans onto Tonks's side of the compartment. Tonks raised her eyebrows again at her new friend.

"Hey, you didn't think I could eat all that on my own did you? Anyway, it's better to have too much than not enough, don't ya reckon?" Stevie said through a mouthful of pasty. Tonks gave out a fairly unlady-like snort of laughter before continuing.

About an hour later, they had both finished all of the food - including the food Tonks's mum had packed her, and decided that they may as well change into their robes. They went for a wander, looking for somewhere to change – namely a bathroom. They decided that they would stay together until they got to Hogwarts, and even then they would try to. They finally managed to find it, down the other end of the train, and after both of them had finished, they started making their way back to their compartment. When they were about 3 minutes away, Tonks heard the very voice she was so eager to avoid for the rest of her life.

"Oh look the ickle shifter found a friend!" an obnoxious voice said from behind them. They both turned around, Tonks feeling slightly afraid, and Stevie looking pissed off. She took in the three boys in front of them, and smirked.

"Tonks, are these the guys who were mean to you before?" Stevie said, tilting her head towards Tonks without breaking eye contact with the boys. They were laughing with each other, standing so the dark haired boy was slightly in front of the other two.

"Yeh, but Stevie, let's just go" Tonks said, grabbing her elbow and trying to pull her away. Stevie shrugged her off and took a step towards the boys.

"Why don't you apologize to my friend here, and we won't have a problem" she said, looking up into the dark haired boys face, not breaking eye contact no matter what Tonks was saying behind her.

"Why don't you take a step back?" said the dark haired boy, whilst taking a step forward also.

"Carrow, why don't we just…" One of the boys muttered behind him loud enough for Stevie to hear, but the dark haired boy shushed him and continued to stare down the brown haired girl. Stevie smirked a little bit wider, her eyes gleaming, and Tonks had taken a few steps back, trying to get away from the confrontation but not wanting to leave her new friend. She started to notice a few heads were poking out of the nearest compartments, trying to figure out what the confrontation was about.

"Why don't you make me, _Carrow_" She said, taking yet another step forward, and using his name to antagonize him. They were now only centimeters apart, and glaring straight into each other's eyes. Tonks finally had enough, and pulled Stevie's wrist hard, turning her around and away from the boys.

"Look, we don't want a fight right now okay? Let's just go back to the cabin and relax alright, okay – are you listening to me?" Tonks said, trying to get Stevie's attention, finally grabbing her head with both hands and forcing her to look into her eyes. Stevie nodded and allowed herself to start being pulled away down the corridor, although not happy at all.

"Yeh, just go relax. Grubby little mudblood." He called out to her, and she snapped. She pulled herself from Tonks's grip and made her way back to the boys at a jog. Tonks called out for her to stop, but it didn't make her halt so she followed her back the way they came.

"What did you call me?" She asked, her voice rising slightly. He turned back to her and walked towards her again, trying to intimidate her to no avail.

"A grubby, dirty, foul mudblood. I can smell the soil in your veins" He said, raising his head so that he was looking down his nose at her. She scoffed at him, and went to turn away, but before she could he turned back to her and poked her in the shoulder. "Why don't you and your horrid ickle shifter friend go run away? That way no-one will ever have to smell your putrid stench or see her horrid, disconfigured face ever again" She felt her blood boil in her veins.

"Insult me all you want, but leave Tonks out of it, okay?" She said, poking him back in the same place he had poked her. The boys behind him, and the small crowd which were now watching them 'oooed' in the typical way. He flashed a fake smile to everyone around him and scoffed. Then, so fast some people possibly didn't see it, he grabbed her shoulders and slammed her against the wall of the train. Tonks let out a little scream, but all Stevie did was smirk at him.

"Come on! Can't you do better than that?" She jeered. He laughed and suddenly dropped her shoulders and pulled his fist back to punch her. Just as he was about to hit her, she moved out of the way, making his fist hit the window where her head was a moment earlier. Both of his goons had backed themselves away, as had Tonks - but at least she was still somewhere near her friend; whereas the twins had taken off running.

Carrow let out a short yelp as his fist collided with the glass, but quickly turned around when he felt a tap on his shoulder. As he turned he was suddenly punched in the face. **Hard**. _No way could such a small girl hit that hard! _He thought as he whipped his head back to his attacker. Nope, he was wrong. Standing behind him, nursing her sore hand was Stevie.

He suddenly kicked out and knocked her to the ground, but she grabbed onto the school tie around his neck and forced him down with her. He landed on top of her and started hitting and punching her as hard as he could, but soon she managed to roll them over and she was punching him and pulling on the tie, and so it went on – both of them rolling around on the floor trying to get the upper hand – until Tonks was finally able to physically pick up the fighting girl with the help of a few of the prefects who had finally stumbled across the scene.

One of them grabbed Carrow, and Tonks and the other picked up Stevie and held her in midair until she stopped struggling. She finally put her hands up in a surrender gesture, muttering that she was fine, and that she would stop. They both let her down slowly, but neither of them let go of her tense body.

"What in Merlin's name is going on here?" The one holding onto Stevie shouted. They both started yelling at the same time about the other being at fault, but the other prefect silenced them.

"You, girl with the blonde hair. What happened here?" He asked a spectator who had been watching since the beginning.

"Well, she asked him to say sorry to her but he wouldn't and started to try to intimidate her and then they started to walk away but he called her a mudblood so she came back and he poked her and she poked him and he swung at her and she hit him and then you guys turned up." The teenager said all in one breath, and gesturing at the appropriate people at the appropriate times. The prefect took a second to try to untangle all the words that she had just said, and turned his attention back to the still quite angry teenagers.

"From what I can establish, you…" he started, pointing at Carrow "threw the first punch. That would mean that you are responsible. And plus the fact that it was a young female you happened to swing at, well, let's just say boy whichever house you're sorted into is not going to be very happy with you. You two," he then pointed to Tonks and Stevie, "I suggest leave." Tonks and Stevie nodded and ran back to their cabin. On the way they started to laugh. They ran into the cabin and fell onto the seat laughing. Only then did Tonks take in how bad Stevie actually looked.

She had blood dripping down from her nose, a split lip, a red mark around her eye that she was sure would turn into a bruise, and a cut just above her eyebrow. She was amazed however that the peacock feather was still perfectly intact.

"Oh god, let me help you!" Tonks said, kneeling down in front of the girl and pulling her wand from her robes. "I learnt a few healing charms from my mum, but I haven't tried them before. If this goes wrong, I am so, **so** sorry!" She moved Stevie so that she was lying down on the seat, and then closed her eyes, trying to remember the spell. "Oh I remember!" She pointed her wand at her new friends lip and prayed to whatever god was listening that she wouldn't hurt her. "Episkey!"

Stevie cringed for a moment, expecting the worst, but then opened her eyes to a smirking Tonks who looked like she was doing a happy-dance. She then reached her hand to her lip and it felt perfectly normal. _Yay! It worked!_ She thought.

"Wicked! Now fix the rest of me!" Stevie said, and Tonks laughed slightly before continuing on her friends face. Tonks used Episkey on Stevie's eye, eyebrow and nose, Tergeo to clean the blood from her face, and finally Brackium Emendo to fix her dislocated shoulder. When she looked in the mirror, she saw the exact same face she had seen before she got onto the train this morning. She turned around and gave Tonks a long, tight hug saying how extremely grateful she was.

As they sat back down Tonks got out the pack of playing cards her dad had given her, and they decided to play a game of snap. They sorted the pile in half and started to play. After about 3 hours, and about twenty-three games of snap, Tonks finally decided to ask the question that had been bothering her since the fight.

"Stevie…" she started, and Stevie looked up from shuffling the cards. "How is it that after the fight, you peacock feather was still perfect, as if nothing had happened to it?" Tonks asked; after going over the possibilities in her head, she just couldn't figure it out!

"Oh, just a protection charm. I read it in one of the textbooks. My feather is my good luck charm. I never take it off, no matter what I am doing. So, I have made sure that it will never get ruined!" Stevie smiled at the look on Tonks's face; a sort of 'Wow, that is really clever' type look. Suddenly they felt the train begin to slow. They looked at each and then scurried over to the window. Outside they saw a great train station. They turned back to each other.

"Well, here we are!" Tonks said, and all the excitement came flooding back into the girls.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeh, so this is chapter 2! I would love it if more people reviewed! :l <strong>

**I hope you enjoyed it, both Carrow and Stevie are of my own creation, so tell me what you think about them! Also, feel free to guess who those two Prefects were! They will come up later and are canon characters so, it probably shouldn't be too hard! :D **

**READ AND REVIEW! **

**LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Trailing Tonks**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP and I definitely do not own Nymphadora Tonks! I just love her as a character so much and I didn't like the way she died one bit. So I am writing this. :D **

**AN: For the sake of the story, I am going to say that Tonks was in Gryffindor, not Hufflepuff. The reason for this is that I don't know anything about the Hufflepuff common room, dormitories, or anything for that matter. If you have a problem with that, please let me know. Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews, especially to my sister EpicNerd even though I haven't talked to her in ages! (Code for – WHERE ARE YOU SMARTIE?) **

**Chapter****3**

The two young girls disembarked the train amongst the sea of teenagers who were all running to get to carriages, find their friends, or to have a quick look around the platform that was lit by what looked like many old fashioned oil lamps. Stevie had a tight hold on Tonks's hand, not wanting to be separated from her new friend and being unable to find her again. Although she would never admit it, she was nervous. Tonks felt the same way, but was lucky in the way that her mum had told her about the school, so it wouldn't be as much of a surprise for her.

"First years this way! Hurry up!" boomed a great voice. Stevie jumped and her grip on her friends hand tightened. Tonks laughed and all but dragged Stevie to the source of the voice. A huge man, like a small giant, was standing over a group of children. He had brown – almost black long hair, a great curly beard, round, and had a sort of tired look of exasperation on his face. Tonks immediately liked the look of him, and dragged Stevie to the front of the group until she was staring straight up at the man.

"Hello!" she called up to him. Stevie's eyes widened and she started to pull away; scared out of her wits of the abnormally large man, but Tonks held her back. The giant looked down at them and a smile spread across his face. He kneeled down so that he was closer to their height – but he was still around a foot taller than them. "I'm Tonks. What's your name?" She asked, smiling at the large man. Tonks reached out her petit hand, and he grabbed it and carefully shook it in his enormous hand.

"The name's Hagrid. I 'appen to be the keeper o' keys and grounds o' Hogwarts. And who's this?" Hagrid finished with a chuckle, looking around Tonks to the young girl hiding behind her. Stevie squeaked and straightened up. Tonks laughed and pulled her beside herself. Stevie opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. Tonks laughed again and slapped her on the back, **hard**.

"Ouch!" Stevie yelped, and Tonks raised an eyebrow at her. Stevie glared at her for a moment.

"Ah, so she 'as a voice. Come on then, what's ya name?" Hagrid said with a grin. Stevie turned back to him, and relaxed slightly.

"I'm Stevie McKinley. Pleased to meet you" she said, and warily shook his giant hand.

"Well you both 'ave the strangest name's I've heard in me lifetime, and trust me, I've heard some great-ones. It's a pleasure to meet the both o' ya, but I think its abou' time we head to the castle. What do ya say?" He looked at the both of them, and they nodded their heads excitedly. "Alrigh'!" he stood up straight and took a few steps back from the two girls. "**Follow me to the boats First Years! Don't be shy. Quickly now!**" he hollered to the large group that had just accumulated.

The whole group ran to keep up with the large man, Tonks and Stevie were currently at the front of the group, only a few strides behind the giant. Suddenly he stopped, and Tonks had to be grabbed onto by Stevie to prevent her from running straight into his back. He turned around and addressed the group once again.

"Alrigh', there will be no more than five people in a boat, do ya understan'? No standin' up, unless ya' feelin' like a late night swim" a giggle rolled through the group, and everyone started to get into the boats. Because they were in the front of the group, they were the first into the boats, and at the head of the pack when the boats began to make their way towards the castle. As the great building came into sight, both girls gasped.

"Blimey, that's got to be the biggest building I've ever seen in my life!" Tonks gasped, holding onto Stevie's forearm.

"Yeh, look how beautiful it is! Khor, check out that tower! It's got to be at least a 5 kilometers high!" Stevie looked at the beautiful castle in awe, and Tonks nodded in agreement. Hagrid past them in his boat at that moment.

"That may be a wee bit of an overestimation girls" he chuckled as he went past, but they still didn't take their eyes off of the magnificent building. When the boats finally landed on the shore, all the children jumped out and ran to the mouth of the path that led to the castle. Tonks tripped while getting out of the boat and landed face first in the water. Stevie tried to suppress her giggles whilst she helped her out of the water. Hagrid meandered over to them, and seeing the drenched girl, quickly pulled out a pink umbrella. Stevie raised her eyebrow at him.

"Umm, aren't umbrellas supposed to **stop** you from getting wet? I think it's a bit late for that." Hagrid looked at her for a moment. Tonks was completely soaked from her hair to her robes, standing beside Stevie with a disgruntled look on her face.

"Oh you hush up" Hagrid said, and Stevie raised her hands in a sign of defeat and stepped back. Hagrid thought about something for a second, and then pointed the tip of the umbrella at the dripping wet 11 year old. He muttered a spell under his breath and a burst of yellow light came from it. After it disappeared Tonks opened her eyes and saw that she was completely dry. The group gasped and Stevie dragged Tonks to the front of the group, Tonks thanking Hagrid as she was pulled away.

"Nice stack, shifter!" Tonks heard the obnoxious voice behind her. They both stopped in the path and the other kids stopped to watch. Stevie turned around, fists already clenched. Tonks turned around as well, wanting to show that even though she's not a fighter, she isn't weak.

"Oh, grow a pair Carrow" Stevie said, rolling her eyes and turning back towards the path.

"Nice come back small fry" He quipped, referring to the fact that she was about 2 inches shorter than he was.

"Twit" Stevie said

"Git" Carrow replied.

"Tosser" Tonks interjected.

"Pillock" Carrow countered, turning to face Tonks slightly.

"Sod!" Stevie yelled. Carrow turned back to Stevie.

"Drop dead!" Carrow shouted, advancing so that he was shouting straight into Stevie's face from centimeters away.

"Ladies first!" Stevie and Tonks yelled in unison, before they all started shouting in an unintelligible mass of words, cuss's and insults.

"**SILENCE!**" Hagrid yelled, only just realizing that the entire year had indeed stopped to see the three children arguing. "Now, I don't 'ave any idea where this came from, but I do know it stops here. Do ya' understand me?" He said, walked between the three of them. All three of them nodded, Tonks and Stevie looking down, but Carrow just turning back to his friends. "Hey boy, I asked you a question. Do ya' understand?" Hagrid said, and Carrow turned back to the small giant.

"Yes. I understand" He said through gritted teeth before once again turning to the group of boys. Tonks and Stevie rolled their eyes at his insufferable behavior, and moved back to their prier place beside Hagrid at the front of the group.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

The young students were led through the great stone corridors by the Caretaker, Mr. Filch; an ugly, stringy haired, old man who kept mumbling things about "unruly kids", and "past punishments" with every step he took. Tonks began to wish that Hagrid had stayed with them, not this strange man. He finally stopped them at the top of a great staircase, looking towards a massive wooden door. Tonks could hear people inside, teenagers laughing and running around.

"Wait out here." Mr. Filch said bluntly as he walked away from them. Stevie turned to Tonks, giving her a "Don't ask me!" look. Out of nowhere there was a commotion occurring below them on the stairs.

"My glasses! I dropped my glasses!" A girl yelled from further down the stairs. Then came the tell-tale crunching of glass, and metal. A muffled laugh went around the group.

"I'm so sorry" exclaimed a redheaded boy that the two girls could just see the head of if they craned their necks over the crowd. He bent down and picked up a broken set of glasses from the floor, and handed them to the girl. She mumbled an acknowledgement, before setting the cracked glasses back onto her nose. "I really am sorry!" he said sincerely, sound genuinely worried for the girl. All of a sudden, someone cleared their throat from the top of the stairs.

The whole group whipped around to see a tall, old-ish woman in an emerald green and silver cloak, with a tall pointy hat of the same colors resting on the top of her head with her hands clasped behind her back.

"We're ready for you now" she said in a calm, posh tone. She then turned around and made her way back through the large doors, with the children following close on her heels. As they made their way through the doors, every single new student gasped.

There were four long tables, each full of teenagers either looking at the new arrivals, or talking amongst themselves, and a long table at the far end of the hall, where it seemed that all the teachers were seated. Tonks heard Stevie gasp once again, and turned to see the young girl staring up at the roof. Tonks looked up and couldn't believe what she saw. The ceiling looked like the night sky, stars twinkling and dust moving, and there were hundreds of candles hovering high up in the air. Tonks tore her eyes away from the beautiful ceiling to look back towards where they were walking to. On the raised platform that had the teachers table on it, there was also a lone stool sitting front and center. On that stool sat a raggedy, old hat, slumped over slightly. As all the students reached the front of the stage, the woman in the tall motioned for them to all gather around real close.

"Now, I shall announce your names, and you will sit up here to be sorted. First – Carrow Blake" The woman addressed the newest students. Carrow made his way up to the podium and sat on the stool. The lady then lowered the hat onto his head. A look of slight alarm passed over his features but quickly disappeared.

"Well, this is an easy decision. Slytherin!" the hat yelled. The table on the far left of the hall cheered loudly, and Carrow smirked as he got to his feet and made his way to them.

"Am I losing it, or did that hat just talk?" Stevie whispered into Tonks's ear, and Tonks nodded with a chuckle. The cheering went on as three other students were sorted – The glasses girl by the name of Magnolia Dunstan into Hufflepuff, a chubby black haired boy into Ravenclaw, and one of the twins that had been with Carrow on the train into Slytherine also. Tonks looked over to the table on the far left, and they all looked rather glum that their house hadn't gotten anyone yet.

"Nymphadora Tonks!" the lady announced, and Tonks's eyes widened. She didn't make any move to go so Stevie gave her a hard shove forward. Tonks glared back at her for a second before making her way up the steps. She tripped up on the last one, but managed to recover before the hit the ground. A wave of laughter went through the students for a second, and Tonks looked down at Stevie, who was motioning with her hands to hurry up. Tonks turned back to the stool and sat down. The teacher slowly lowered the old hat onto her head.

"Hello Madame, how's your day been so far?" Tonks jumped as a strange voice filled her head. "Don't worry, I'm just a sorting hat" it said. _I must be going balmy! _Tonks thought. "No, your completely sane. Now, where shall I put you? You are intelligent, so Ravenclaw perhaps? Oh no, no, no. Well, I see a kind, caring nature – so maybe Hufflepuff? That'll never do… Well, I also see determination, courage, loyalty, and a bit of trouble in you. Well, that's my mind made up" he finished in her mind.

"**GRYFFINDOR!**" The hat yelled loudly. A roar erupted from the once silent table, and from many of the first years as well; the loudest being Stevie. Tonks jumped up from the stool and all but ran to the long table, taking a seat beside a curly haired second year boy. She got many pats on the back, and shook hands with a lot of people also. Her hair was her favorite pinky color, feeling that this was indeed the best house to be in.

When the room finally quieted down, the sorting continued. Many more people were called and sorted, but Tonks was waiting anxiously for her best friends name to be called. Finally, when there was only four people left, the teacher – who Tonks had learnt was named Prof. McGonagall, did just that.

"Stephanie McKinley" she stated, and Stevie made her way onto the podium. She had her head held high, but inside she was freaking out. _I'm not gonna be in Slytherin. No way in hell._ She thought as she sat down on the slightly unstable seat and the ratty hat was lowered onto the top of her head carefully.

"Well. I knew we'd get at least one" said a gruff voice that echoed around inside her brain. _One of what?_ Stevie thought, knowing that it could hear her. "A dead set trouble maker. Although, I'm sure you are capable of behaving yourself, am I correct?" _I'm not planning to, but I am capable of it. _"Hmmm… Well, you seem like a good fit for Slytherin in my opinion. Your confident, clever, you have an aggressive streak" _No! Please not Slytherin! Anything but Slytherin!_ "Not Slytherin? Why-ever not? Well, if you insist, let me look closer. You are indeed very intelligent, but certainly not a Ravenclaw. Means either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor… Okay. I have reached a decision" The voice in her head trailed off, and Stevie waited with her eyes squeezed closed.

"Definitely one of the hardest decisions of today. **GRYFFINDOR!**" The Gryffindor table once again erupted into screams of triumph as Stevie jumped off the stool and ran to the table. As soon as she got there Tonks's arms were wrapped around her in a tight embrace. She hugged her back, until they broke apart and walked over to their seats, being patted, congratulated, and shaking hands with other Gryffindor's on the way. That made them two of only 13 of the year sorted into Gryffindor – some of the others being Charlie Weasley; the redheaded boy who broke Magnolia's glasses, Alexander Puckett; a boy with dark blonde hair and grey eyes, and Quinn Harris; a tall for her age girl with short hair and broad shoulders.

Tonks and Stevie took their seats as a very old man made his way up to the gold stand that was now in the middle of the podium. He was dressed in midnight blue robes with silver stars on them, and a large hat of the same colors was perched on his head. Everyone silenced as Prof. McGonagall tapped a goblet with her fork.

"For those new students who do not know me, I am Prof. Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. I wish to inform you of a few school rules – some of you older students may need reminding so do not _tune out_" a chuckle went through the hall. "The Black Forest is off limits to **all **students, and the 7th floor corridor on the left hand side is still out of bounds for those who do not wish to die a most horrible, grizzly death. No student should ever be seen out of bed at night time, or outside the castle walls unless instructed to, or accompanied by a teacher. Now that all the formalities are out of the way, Let the feast begin!" The headmaster finished. He made a sweeping gesture with both of his hands, and every table became filled with delicious looking foods.

Stevie's eyes lit up as she saw all the food and immediately grabbed the bowl of mashed potato and put a scoop of it onto her plate. Tonks got the idea quickly and began to pile her plate with food as well. Stevie grabbed a meat pie off of the plate and put it onto hers. She then grabbed some gravy and poured it onto her pie. Tonks took some chicken, vegetables and a bit of corn. Stevie had eaten about half of her pie already when a light haired third year boy turned to the two girls from across the table.

"So Stephanie, Nymphadora. What'd ya' think o' Hogwarts?" He smiled as he leant towards the two girls. A look of anger flashed across both of their faces.

"Never call me Stephanie. It's Stevie or nothing! Got it?" Stevie said, glaring at the boy slightly, before he nodded understandingly, with a cheeky smile.

"Don't call me Nymphadora! My name is Tonks" Tonks said, her hair going from the purple to a bright red out of rage. The boy's eyes widened before he poked his friend to check out Tonks. They were both in awe for a moment.

"That's amazin'! How'd ya' do that?" the first boy asked. Tonks just shrugged before getting back to her food, as did Stevie. "Well, my name's Travis Montgomery – call me Monty though. This 'ere's me lil' brother Mason. He's a first year as well. Maybe you three can be friends, ay?" He said, gesturing to the second boy, who smiled at them with the same cheeky smile as his older brother. He had sandy blonde hair, green eyes, tanned skin and a few freckles on his nose and cheeks. Stevie and Tonks reached over to the boy and shook his hand. He shook and then swapped seats with his brother so he was opposite them. They started to talk about where they were from, what they liked, their favorite subjects; just getting to know each other.

Mason was from Scotland, but both of his parents are English and live in Cambridge. He was a pureblood. He liked chicken, the color blue, making potions with his dad and flying. He hated animals, green, insects, and cold weather. When he said he hated cold weather, the two girls couldn't help but laugh. He asked them what was so funny and Tonks explained that it was funny because he was Scottish, and he didn't like cold weather when it's always cold in Scotland. He laughed along with them after that.

When the food changed from dinner into desert before their eyes, they were all speechless. Stevie reached over to get a piece of Apple Pie, and when she was carrying it to her plate a most unexpected thing happened. A man's head popped up through her plate. He had short curly hair, a large grin, was wearing **very** old fashioned clothes, but most peculiarly, he was completely transparent. Stevie screamed from fright and dropped the piece of pie – luckily it landed on her plate. Mason, Tonks and a few others around them jumped, but were not quite as scared as Stevie was.

"I'm so sorry my dear, I did not intend to frighten you!" the man said as he rose up from the table, and drifted into the isle behind her. Stevie looked around and saw most of the older kids were having a laugh at her expense. She turned back to her pie and got some ice-cream to go with it. Tonks smiled at her friend's uncomfortable expression. "I am known as Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, although regrettably most of you students know me as Nearly-headless Nick." He said, making a slight bowing gesture at his full name, and rolling his eyes at the end. Tonks thought for a second.

"Wait… How can one be nearly headless?" She asked. Nick sighed in exasperation, as if he had had this question way too many times.

"Like this" he said, and grabbed his hair and lifted it to the side. His head fell to the same way, but was still partly connected to his neck. Stevie gasped and made a gagging noise, Tonks mouthed "right" and looked down at her plate, and Mason laughed. "It is not funny boy. Because of this insignificant piece of connective tissue, my requests to join the Headless Hunt are being denied every year! Not a laughing matter at all." He said, glaring slightly at Mason, before drifting off towards the rest of the table. Many ghosts appeared suddenly from everywhere flying around the room. The three looked up in wonder, and got back to their food.

They finished eating desert, and after they were dismissed the prefects took the first years on a brief tour of the castle on their way to the common room. He explained the changing staircases, and Stevie almost got stuck on one; having to jump on the ledge before she was carried to the other side. He showed them all the animated portraits on the walls, some of them smiling and waving, whilst other hid from the bewildered children and various classrooms as they passed. Finally they stopped on an unmoving staircase facing a portrait of a fat woman.

"The Portrait of the Fat Lady is the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. The password is a Gryffindor secret that no other houses can know. The password is Dragon fire." He said, and the portrait swung open. They all filed in, looking around the decorated room. It was covered in Gold and Red wall hangings, with a big fireplace, chess tables, desks a large red couch in front of the already roaring fire. "Boys dormitories up the stairs to your left, girls the same on the right. All of your belongings have already been brought up. I suggest you go now, and have a good night's rest for classes tomorrow" he said, and all the students made their way up the appropriate staircases.

On each of the doors were a set of names in floating gold wand trails. Tonks and Stevie were exceptionally pleased when they found their names on the same door. They touched the name and the door swung open for each of them. They laughed and ran to get dressed into their night clothes. Stevie wore a white tank top and red stripy pants, and Tonks wore a black t-shirt with long, baggy purple pants. They smiled at each other and lay down in the beds that their things were set up next to – which were beside each other's. They both were suddenly hit by a wave of exhaustion.

"Night Tonks. Have a good sleep" Stevie yawned as she lay on her back with her hands behind her head. Tonks lay on her side facing Stevie.

"You too. See you tomorrow" She mumbles as her eyes slid shut and Stevie's did the same. They both fell into a heavy sleep, glad to finally be at Hogwarts, and excited for the adventures to come.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey! So, I have decided to continue this because I enjoy writing it. I would love it even more if I got some reviews! Now I have some reply's…<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Hi: Hahaha, I am answering you seriously here… You are AWESOME! You are Definitely one of my favorite reviewers. :D I update when I can. I go to school and have been very unwell recently, so my updates are generally relatively slow. I hope you'll bear with me though!<strong>

**OhSnapItzJess: Aww… that's very sweet. Thank you! **

**Marine69: That's one of the sweetest things I've ever heard. Thank you so much! :D xx**

**EpicNerd: Yes it is long, yes I am continuing, but now you must answer my question – WHERE ARE YOU? I miss you Smartie, are you mad at me for some reason? You are my Hawaiian Sister – I NEED YOU! xxx**

* * *

><p><strong>You know what I just realized? At the rate that I am currently going, this going to be a <em>long <em>story. Like hundreds of chapters if I keep going at this pace and want to get through all of her years of Hogwarts, and auror's training. Wow... I'm screwed.**

**Well, this is an extremely long chapter, so I think I'm gonna end it here. I love you guys and gals – BUT PLEASE REVIEW SO I CAN SEE YOU! PRETTY PRETTY PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE! xxx**

**LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! xx**


End file.
